PZ - April 2023 by annexbusinessmedia

APRIL 2023

CANADIANPIZZAMAG.COM

HOUR STRUGGLE Labour shortages and risk of burnout causing pizzerias to curtail operations

P. 10 International flavours on pizza P. 22 Vegas Pizza Expo highlights

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April 2023 · CANADIAN PIZZA

April 2023 Vol. 29, No. 2

DEPARTMENTS 6

From the Editor Banishing burnout

Industry News Movers, shakers, legislation and news you can use

10 The Pizza Chef

Incorporating international flavours

16 Making Dough Seven quick and easy ideas to prepare your pizzeria for spring

20 Tools of the Trade New products

CONTENTS COVER STORY

IMAGES: IRYNA ADOBE STOCK (COVER); DIANA CLINE (10); CANADIAN PIZZAI (22)

ONLINE Canadian Pizza Summit and Bakery Showcase updates This year Pizza Summit West is proud to be part of Bakery Showcase, the annual industry event presented by the Baking Association of Canada. It’s two shows in one! We’re making new announcements all the time. Keep up to date at canadianpizzamag. com.Read more at canadianpizzamag.com.

ON THE COVER Andrew Hind talks with three pizzerias curtailing their hours due to the labour shortage and risk of burnout. See page 12. PHOTO: IRYNA ADOBE STOCK CANADIAN PIZZA · April 2023

12 Hour struggle Labour shortage and risk of burnout causing Canadian pizzerias to curtail their operations By Andrew Hind

14 Canadian Pizza Summit West/ Bakery Showcase preview The Canadian Pizza Summit West, Chef of the Year Competition and Great Pizza Box Fold-Off will be part of Bakery Showcase May 14-15, 2023, in Vancouver. Check out the jam-packed schedule! By Canadian Pizza staff

22 Pizza Expo highlights

We bring you exciting trends and advice from experienced operators from Las Vegas Pizza Expo! By Canadian Pizza Staff

CanadianPizzaMag.com

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April 2023 · CANADIAN PIZZA

CANADIAN PIZZA · April 2023

CanadianPizzaMag.com

FROM THE EDITOR BY COLLEEN CROSS

April 2023, Vol. 29, No. 2

Banishing burnout

t’s time to talk about staff burnout in your pizzeria. Lack of permanent, reliable staff is an acute and continuing problem that affects every aspect of a bakery’s operation. A business can’t operate without staff. Yet somehow businesses do continue to operate – and maintain a high quality of product and customer service – but at what cost to the team that has stayed the course? The cost to your business may be the very real risk of owner, manager and employee burnout. While job burnout is not a condition that is formally defined as a medical diagnosis, the American Psychiatric Association describes it as: • emotional depletion – feeling frustrated, tired of going to work, finding it hard to deal with others at work • detachment or cynicism – being less empathetic with others, detached from work, seeing work or elements of work as a source of frustration • low personal achievement – experiencing work as unrewarding, feelings of “going through the motions” • depersonalization – thoughts and feelings seem unreal or not belonging to oneself According to the Restaurants Canada Foodservice Facts Guide, 72 per cent of restaurants and food-service operations report having to increase hours worked by owners and managers to compensate for the lack of staff, as Andrew Hind writes in our cover story “Hour struggle” (see page 12). “Because we can’t find anyone to give the keys to, we must work open to close. Reducing hours to give ourselves and our existing staff a break is the only solution. It’s a real problem,” says pizzeria owner Paul Mollica of Pie-zano’s Authentic Italian Pizza in Chatham, Ont., in the article. Cory Medd of Two Guys and a Pizza Place in Lethbridge, Alta., took the step to

close on Mondays and is resisting the urge to reopen post-COVID. He uses the time to get administration and planning done and doesn’t foresee re-opening on Mondays. “Time off is very important,” said Martin Barnett in the Baking Association of Canada’s February Bulletin. “A new local bakery recently asked their followers on social media what their hours should be. This triggered me a little as to how important it is to find the balance between serving your customers and having a productive, sane and balanced work life. You cannot please everyone, and it is part of our service to stay in business. Cutting back on hours doesn’t mean reducing profitability. Scheduling will be easier and your staff will thank you too.” We recommend looking into a program such as Not Myself Today, which is a workplace mental health program spearheaded by the Canadian Mental Health Association as a practical resource for providing mental health support to employees. To learn more about this particular program, contact CMHA at notmyselftoday.ca. Another way to avoid burnout is to find community with others in the baking industry who share your struggle. This could take the form of having a regular cup of coffee or chat with a fellow operator in your neighbourhood or BIA or attending an industry event such as Pizza Expo or the Canadian Pizza Summit at Bakery Showcase. The BAC’s Bakery Showcase featuring the Pizza Summit, Chef of the Year Competition and Great Pizza Box Fold-Off May 14-15 in Vancouver is an ideal place to make connections and refresh your business. Have a look at this year’s speaker and demo schedule starting on page 14. We look forward to seeing you there – and for those who cannot attend, we’ll report back in these pages on key takeaways from Karen’s and all sessions. Until then, take care of yourselves | CP

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BEING HELD AT:

May 14 - 15, 2023 I Vancouver Convention Centre

JOIN US AT CANADIAN PIZZA SUMMIT WEST AND CHEF OF THE YEAR COMPETITIONS! We invite pizza chefs from across Canada to compete to be our next Chef of the Year West for a free trip to compete in the International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas in March 2024 and a cover story in Canadian Pizza!

2 SHOWS IN 1

•

Make your creative pizza to compete for a trip to Vegas Expo and cash prizes for 2nd and 3rd place!

•

Attend baking-related technical and inspirational operator panels and seminars!

•

Watch demonstrations by top chefs and bakers!

•

Shop innovative pizza-focused products, equipment and services!

Enjoy all the features and networking of Bakery Showcase by attending Canadian Pizza Summit!

•

Join Canada’s baking industry professionals from pizzerias and bakeries to grocery and food-service outlets at Canada’s ONLY business-to-business baking event!

Bring your team to compete in the Great Pizza Box Fold-Off!

•

Enjoy access to the Bakery Showcase trade show floor with a wide array of manufacturers and suppliers to the baking industry!

Meet award-winning pizza chef Diana Cline! Watch her demo pizza and emcee the Chef of the Year Competition!

It’s a month’s worth of research – all in one place over two days!

CanadianPizzaMag.com

TRENDS

Restaurants add savoury berries to menus to stand out from competitors To distinguish themselves from competitors, more and more restaurant chains worldwide are experimenting with berry sauces, toppings and marinades incorporating strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and especially blueberries into savoury menu items throughout the year. How to make entrée offerings stand out is a perennial question for pizzeria and restaurant operators around the globe, particularly quick-service chains specializing in broad menu categories. The report highlights examples. In November, A&W rolled out the BlueBeary Burger in Malaysia as a grilled chicken or double-beef handheld starring blueberry jam as a creative means of livening up the more familiar lettuce tomato-mayo trio 8

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of toppings. Mugg & Bean, a South African operator, introduced a Back Bacon and Blueberry Bagel in May before adding it permanently. This all-day item places frequent accompaniments including cream cheese, back bacon and honey alongside the more gourmet pairing of candied walnuts and blueberry-vanilla coulis for an elevated take on a common café dish. Other fruit-inspired dishes include Outback Steakhouse Brazil’s raspberry sauce-bathed Raspberry Ribs Duo, KFC Chile’s wild strawberry-infused Crispy Berry Chicken and Denny’s Japan Grilled Domestic Pork With Inca Berry Cream Sauce. To access the full report, visit technomic.com.

ON THE WEB Cape Breton pizzerias working with homeless shelter and food bank to help people in need; Pay-per-Chew: More restaurants trying subscription programs FOR MORE PIZZA NEWS, check out our website, canadianpizzamag.com

Daiya has announced a multi-million-dollar investment in fermentation technology that will enable it to create a plant-based cheese it says is “tastier, meltier and stretchier than any other on the market.” By combining traditional cheese-making methods with modern technology, the company intends to make a plant-based cheese with similar characteristics to dairy-based products. Daiya is adding a fermentation site into its existing production facility in Burnaby. “We believe that the future of plant-based cheese

achieving parity to dairy lies in traditional fermentation techniques,” said Michael Watt, CEO of Daiya. Jamie Siu, Research and Development Director, Advanced Research and Technology, at Daiya said: “For our team to be able to deliver this fermented product has been no small task. It has involved extensive research and development in the traditional art of cheese making, applied in a plant-based setting.” The company expects the new product to reach the marketplace by the end of 2023.

ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN FRAY; PHOTO: ASMR/ GETTY

INDUSTRY NEWS

CHEESE

Daiya to launch ‘meltier and stretchier’ plantbased cheese using fermentation technology April 2023 · CANADIAN PIZZA

SECURITY

PHOTO: GMVOZD/ GETTY

Small businesses eyeing new technologies to cut fraud risk: KPMG A majority of businesses across Canada experienced some form of fraud over the past year as scammers grew increasingly sophisticated, causing most organizations to look to new and emerging technologies as ways to reduce their risk and fend off potential attacks. A recent survey of more than 500 small and mediumsized enterprises across Canada found three-quarters of respondents experienced either internal fraud (by an employee) or external fraud (such as credit card fraud, fraudulent cheques, false invoices, or identity fraud by hijacking bank accounts) in the past year. Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and biometrics are effective tools to prevent and detect fraud, Abate said. Myriam Duguay, a Partner in Forensics at KPMG in Canada, recommends the following actions to help prevent, detect, and manage fraud: • Establish, implement, and constantly update an enterprise-wide anti-fraud program including a fraud risk assessment • Frequently monitor and assess third-party risk • Set up a whistleblower line/program • Implement anti-fraud

training for staff • Employ active surveillance and data monitoring – forensic data analytics • Align fraud, financial crimes, cybersecurity operations INGREDIENTS

Mexico group shares tips on cooking with avocados The Avocados From Mexico organization has published an “Avoguide” to teach Canadians about the nutritional value and creative uses for the superfruit that originated in Mexico. Avocados are a source of fibres, vitamins, and minerals that are widely believed to help people maintain a balanced cholesterol level and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. In a study the organization conducted in Canada in 2021, nearly a quarter of respondents said they were giving up on the idea of buying avocados because they didn’t know how to pick or prepare them. In response, Avocados From Mexico through its guide shares the following tips. The choice of the perfect avocado depends on the desired consumption time. If the avocado skin is very green, the avocado will be ripe in a week. If the avocado skin is dark, but firm to the touch, it is not quite ripe and will need two more days. Finally, if the skin of the avocado is dark and

yields to a slight pressure, then it is ready to eat. To ripen an avocado, put it in a paper bag with a banana for three to five days and check its condition daily. If the avocado is slightly soft to the touch, it’s ready to be cooked. You can slow down the ripening process by keeping it in the refrigerator for up to

CANADIAN PIZZA · April 2023

three days. Avocado can replace fatty culinary bases such as butter in desserts, like in this avocado and pistachio brownies recipe, or mayonnaise in sandwiches and wraps. and can be baked, fried, grilled or eaten raw. For more information on this superfood, visit avocadosfrommexico.ca.

CanadianPizzaMag.com Untitled-1 1

2023-04-14 9:10 AM

THE PIZZA CHEF BY DIANA CLINE

Diana Cline is an award-winning pizza chef, a partner with Diana’s Cucina & Lounge in Winnipeg. In addition to creating award-winning recipes, Diana is a consultant to other pizzeria owner/operators in menu development, creating operational systems and marketing to help operators grow their business strategically. Contact her at diana@dianascucinaandlounge.com.

Incorporating international flavours

anadian palates are growing more sophisticated by the day. We are a multicultural society and that helps expose us to more styles of cooking, more spices, more flavours and more textures. While there will always be a demand for classic pepperoni and cheese pizzas, more millennials and foodies are ready and willing to push the boundaries of the usual. You don’t have to look too hard to find inspiration for an international flavour to use on a pizza: a visit to your local Asian market or your local grocery store will yield plenty of ingredients and sauces to play with. Last October, a competitor for our Chef of the Year competition at Pizza Summit East brought her international Indian-inspired Butter Chicken Pizza to the competition. As I recall, the pizza was delightful, featuring a roasted squash, red onions, green peppers, cheeses, and, of course, butter chicken and butter chicken sauce. The year before, for our recipe contest, pizza chef Salar Madadi scored top marks with his Mala Honey Pie, a Thai-inspired pizza; featuring green onions, pickled chilis, Thai cinnamon basil, mozzarella and shredded asiago, a custom mix of Thai spices and a good drizzle of hot honey. These are definitely not your everyday run-of-the-mill pizzas! I look to international dishes for inspiration: sauces like teriyaki, hoisin, kung pao, black bean, oyster, peanut, and Chui Choi-style chili oil are amazing flavours to play with and add unique and delicious components to any pizza. 10

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We have many unique pizzas on our menu, and several we consider international flavour fusion pizzas. One of my all-time favourites is our international Polynesian-inspired Sweet’n’Spicy Divine Swine – featuring marinara, dry-cured pepperoni, pineapple, barbecue pulled pork with a splash of hot sauce, mozzarella and medium sharp Cheddar cheese. It’s always in the top 5 most popular pizzas on our menu. We put pulled pork on the menu back in 2008, and while it was unusual at the time, it’s become quite popular with our

clientele, and I’ve since noticed it being offered on other high-end pizzeria menus. Another international flavour pizza on our menu is a Chinese-inspired pizza we call our Kung Pao chicken pizza. I was inspired to create this pizza by one of my favourite dishes at my preferred Chinese food place. This pizza features our olive oil and herbs sauce, mozzarella cheese, red and green peppers, red and green onions, Kung Pao chicken breast and pineapple. It’s a masterpiece – beautiful to look April 2023 · CANADIAN PIZZA

We have many unique pizzas on our menu, and several we consider international flavour fusion pizzas.

at and delicious. We’ve had a couple of Mandarin-inspired pizzas on the menu over the years; a couple of years ago I created our “Sriracha-ZZA aka The Rooster Pizza” in honour of the Chinese Year of the Rooster. I coincided the release with Chinese New Year. This pizza featured our olive oil and herbs sauce, sriracha chicken breast, hot banana peppers, baby corn, minced garlic with Monterey Jack and mozzarella cheeses. Later that year, I created our “Cashew Chicken Winner” featuring our olive oil and herbs sauce, mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheeses, hoisin chicken breast, toasted cashews, baby spinach and minced garlic. Back in 2008, we also had a Mandarin Beef pizza featuring olive oil and herbs sauce, mozzarella cheese, Mandarin beef (we brought in steak strips and marinated them in this spicy Mandarin sauce), sugar snap peas, mushrooms and matchstick carrots. I know this pizza was ahead of its time: it was 2008, and when polled, my clientele found it “weird” – with carrots and sugar snap peas on a pizza?! Still, everyone who sampled it said it was incredible. One month I brought in kimchi from a local company and created a couple of specialty pizzas and a flatbread featuring it. Kimchi is Korea’s national dish. It’s nutrient-loaded with prebiotics and probiotics, so it’s very healthy, it’s vegetarian and it’s got amazing textures and flavours. It has a natural heat to it, so literally, if you want to spice up your menu, this is a great addition. One creation featured barbecue sauce, kimchi, green peppers, pineapple, Roma tomatoes, with mozzarella and Monterey Jack

CANADIAN PIZZA · April 2023

cheeses. Finally, the flatbread we called “BBQ Chicken Kimchi” featuring olive oil and herbs sauce, Garlic’n’Chive Havarti, barbecue chicken, strip bacon and fresh kimchi, meaning it’s put on cold, after the pizza is baked, as a garnish. I personally loved these pizzas: they were savoury and the right amount of spice. I’m not the first to suggest a crab Rangoon pizza. Here’s a Chinese, North American fusion inspired dish that’s super hot and trendy right now. There are several recipes for crab Rangoon out there, each with slight differences, but the main ingredients for the mixture are cream cheese, crab meat, scallions, garlic, fish,

soy and Worcestershire sauces, sesame oil, and salt and pepper. I’ve had it with tamarind sauce on the side for dipping, but I’ve also seen it served with a sweet chili sauce or sometimes a duck sauce. It’s up to the chef as to which sauce they’d like to feature it with, but it’s definitely a pizza that will get folks talking! I hope this column has inspired you to get creative.You don’t have to go all in: you could pick one or two sauces, create your own international inspired fusion flavours, and see what resonates with your customers. Who knows, it could even score top marks at the next Pizza Summit and win you a trip to compete in Vegas. | CP CanadianPizzaMag.com

COVER STORY

HOUR STRUGGLE Labour shortages and risk of burnout causing pizzerias to curtail operations BY ANDREW HIND

The cause We all know the impact COVID-19 had on the restaurant industry. Shuttered restaurants. Reduced capacities. Numerous restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. Laid-off staff. But even after dining restrictions were lifted across the country and restaurants began hanging out the “Now Hiring” signs, a substantial number of former restaurant workers (as many as one-third, according to some estimates) decided not to return to the hospitality industry. The question is why, and where did they go? Working in the restaurant industry at the height of the pandemic was fraught with stress, uncertainty and fear. Lost wages during public health-mandated closures, and lower wages because of reduced hours and lack of tips when restaurants reopened at 12

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Two Guys and a Pizza Place in Lethbridge closed on Mondays during the pandemic with no plans to reopen on that day.

reduced capacity, called into question one’s ability to make a living. Pair this with fear of working in a high-risk setting – food-service workers had some of the highest mortality rates during the pandemic – and it’s little wonder that few workers looked on a career in

the restaurant industry favorably. In truth, the pandemic hardships may simply have been the push that some workers needed to switch career paths. After all, even at the best of times the hospitality industry has a reputation for long hours, low wages and no benefits. April 2023 · CANADIAN PIZZA

PHOTO: CORY MEDD, TWO GUYS AND A PIZZA PLACE

n 2023, the restaurant industry is experiencing an unprecedented labour shortage, forcing many businesses to curtail operations as they struggle to find enough staff. Navigating this labour shortage is, at the moment, one of the most challenging aspects of pizzeria and restaurant operations.

COVER STORY

PHOTO: IRYNA ADOBE STOCK

When workers in the restaurant industry were facing an uncertain future during the pandemic, many took the opportunity to pursue careers with more stability. The vast majority have not returned to restaurant work. It seems the factors that drove seasoned workers away from the hospitality industry may also be at play in deterring people from entering the field. People want stability, good wages and benefits, none of which the food-service industry traditionally offers. This reality is one reason many segments of the restaurant industry have leaned heavily on teenaged workers. Unfortunately, recruiting members of this demographic has been a problem in recent years. “Good help has always been hard to find. Now it’s hard to find any help,” explains Paul Mollica, co-owner with Joe Leggiero of Pie-zano’s Authentic Italian Pizza in Chatham, Ont. “Our pizzeria is across the street from a high school. One day, I decided that I would spend the entire day behind the counter and ask every student that came in if they were interested in a job. I asked 200 students. Only one said yes. It was never this hard to recruit youths.” The statistics bear out Mollica’s anecdote. The number of teenagers in the labour force is half what it was 25 years ago, which makes finding people willing to work in entry-level, low-earning positions increasingly difficult and contributes to the overall shortage of employees. This is the manifestation of a generational shift. For baby boomers and generation X, the summer job was a rite of passage. Today’s teenagers have other priorities, and it’s not because young people today are lazy. Data shows that many teenagers aren’t working because they’re studying instead. Over the last few decades, education has taken up more of teenagers’ time, as academic loads have gotten heavier (in some cases, for example in Ontario, students must learn in four years what previously took five), courses have gotten more difficult and the push to enter post-secondary education has

Some students find holding down a parttime job to be one responsibility too many. CANADIAN PIZZA · April 2023

become stronger. Add to these factors the rise in co-op credits, and it becomes easy to see that some students find holding down a part-time job to be one responsibility too many. The effect One result of the crushing labour shortage is that restaurants have been forced – reluctantly, in most cases – to reduce their operating hours. According to Restaurant Canada’s Foodservice Facts Guide, 64 per cent of Canadian operators have shared that they’ve reduced their hours of operations. “We’ve reduced our hours significantly We closed one day a week now and close an hour or two earlier every other night, for a total of about 20 hours per week,” Mollica says. “The inability to find new hires is burning our owners and existing staff industry wide. Because we can’t find anyone to give the keys to, we must work open to close. Reducing hours to give ourselves and our existing staff a break is the CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

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VANCOUVER

MAY 14-15

2023

SCHEDULE

Welcome to Canadian Pizza Summit West at Bakery Showcase

BAC_Banner23.indd 1

Join us at the Canadian Pizza Summit West (#canadianpizzasummit2023) and Chef of the Year Competitions at Bakery Showcase May 14-15, 2023. Summit sessions and demonstrations happen on Sunday, May 14, and the competitions (Chef and Great Pizza Box Fold-Off) take place on Monday, May 15. Don’t miss this chance to watch top chefs in action, sample their pizza, pick up ideas for your own pizzeria and meet other operators!

CANADIAN PIZZA SUMMIT/BAKERY SHOWCASE: EDUCATION SCHEDULE Check out our exciting lineup of inspirational speakers, education sessions and demonstrations!

DAY 1 | SUNDAY, MAY 14, 2023

Great Canadian Baking Show. Zoya shares

Tracey Muzzolini, Co-Owner, Christies

why she entered the competition, what it’s

Bakery, Saskatoon, Sask.

like to bake under the tent and details of

Registration opens at 8:00am

her specialties. Bring your questions and

11:00am – 12:00noon (Session Room B)

8:30am – 10:00am (Session Room A)

get ready to be inspired by this inventive

Baking Association of Canada Annual General Meeting and Meet-and-Greet

baker!

Focus on The Sourdough Library with Jan Willem Groen

Moderator: Dina Hamed, Pastry Chef, BAC

Sponsored by Dawn Foods

11:00am – 11:30am

tion with upstart bakeries to watch. Mark will explore how these entrepreneurs got The Baking Association of Canada’s BC

started, their priorities, and their biggest

Chapter invites you to a dinner cruise on

challenges and triumphs. Aspiring bakery

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April 2023 · CANADIAN PIZZA

VANCOUVER

MAY 14-15

2023

SCHEDULE 2023-03-15 11:35 AM

Meet the next generation of Canadian bakers

Peter Jacobs, Certified Master Baker, Bakery

(Navkinderjit) Sidhu (Main Stage)

and find out whose Mother’s Day cakes

Application Consultant at The Bakers

3:00pm - 3:45pm - Sourdough with Mark

impressed the judges!

Workshop, Newmarket, Ont.

Burton (Main Stage)

Francisco Migoya, Chef and Co-Author,

3:00pm – 3:45pm (Main Stage)

Modernist Bread and Modernist Pizza

Sourdough with Mark Burton

4:00pm – 4:30pm

1:00pm – 1:45pm (Main Stage)

(Canadian Pizza Summit Stage)

Beekeeping and the Baker

2:00pm – 3:00pm (Session Room A)

Sustainable Chocolate Solutions Sponsored by Puratos

Great Pizza Box Fold-Off

VIU’s Aron Weber will share his insights and

The Great Pizza Box Fold-Off is back! Enter

experience keeping bees as a pastry chef

the Great Pizza Box Fold-Off! We invite

and craft a delicious dessert!

Sylvestre Awono, global business develop-

pizzerias to challenge the standing record of

Presenter: Aron Weber, Baking and Pastry

ment manager of Cacao-Trace for Puratos,

10 boxes folded in 36.33 seconds by Virgil

Program Chair and Instructor

will deliver a presentation on the program

Risi of Maria’s Original Pizza, Brantford, Ont.,

and lead a tasting of the sustainable

to earn bragging rights as Canada’s top

2:00pm – 2:45pm (Main Stage)

chocolate so bakers can understand and

folder! Enter now at canadianpizzashow.ca!

Bi-Colour Lamination, Rose and Strawberry Croissants

the presentation.

4:30pm (Canadian Pizza Summit Stage)

Presenter: David Nolan, Pastry and Baking Instructor, Professional Baking and Pastry

11:00am – 4:00pm

Chef of the Year Awards Presentation

(Canadian Pizza Summit Stage)

Emcee: Diana Cline, Diana’s Cucina and

Canadian Pizza Chef of the Year West Competition

Lounge, Winnipeg, Man.

3:00pm – 3:45pm (Main Stage)

Professional pizza makers will compete to be

1:00pm – 4:00pm

Chocolate: More than just Bean to Bar

our next Chef of the Year West! The winner

(Bakery Showcase Main Stage)

Presenter: Ken Harper, Pastry Chef Instruct-

will be featured on the cover of Canadian

or, Vancouver Island University

Pizza magazine and receive a free trip to

Vancouver Island University Baking Demonstrations

compete in the International Pizza Challenge

Come watch, learn, ask questions and

through Cacao Barry’s Or Noir program

at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas!

sample the goods!

created a chocolate exclusive to VIU. Sample

Emcee: Diana Cline, Diana’s Cucina &

1:00pm – 1:45pm Pastries with Leanne

products!

Lounge, Winnipeg, Man.

Bentley (Main Stage)

Confirmed judges:

2:00pm – 2:45pm Galettes with Nav

experience the characteristics described in

Arts, Vancouver Island University

Ken Harper tells how students and faculty

Trade show floor closes 5:00pm

The Baking Association of Canada presents Bakery Showcase 2023. Thank you to sponsoring partners, AB Mauri, Ardent Mills, Bakemark, Caldic, Dawn Foods, EM Bakery Equipment, FCC, Fritsch Multivac, Lallemand and Puratos for supporting this key industry learning and networking event.

SUMMIT SPOTLIGHT: WOMEN IN PIZZA: CANADA EDITION It’s no secret that the hospitality industry is male dominated, and the pizza scene is no exception. Join Modernist Cuisine publisher and editorial director Stephanie Swane (top left) for a special panel featuring women in the pizza industry highlighting some of their biggest champions: Diana Cline (top right), Owner and Partner, Diana’s Cucina and Lounge, Award-winning Pizza Chef, Winnipeg Suzanne Fielden (bottom left), Co-Founder, Rocky Mountain Flatbread, EarthBites Society, Vancouver Gabrielle Hamelin (bottom right), Brand Manager, Pizzeria No. 900, Montreal

CANADIAN PIZZA · April 2023

Register now to compete for Chef of the Year/Fold-Off at canadianpizzashow.ca! See page 7 for details. Register now to attend the Pizza Summit/Bakery Showcase! CanadianPizzaMag.com

MAKING DOUGH WITH DIANE BY DIANE CHIASSON

Diane Chiasson, FCSI, president of Chiasson Consultants Inc., has been helping foodservice, hospitality and retail operators increase sales for over 35 years by providing innovative and revenue-increasing food service and retail merchandising programs, interior design, branding, menu engineering, marketing and promotional campaigns. Contact her at 416-926-1338, send her an email at chiasson@ chiassonconsultlants.com, or visit www.chiassonconsultants.com

Seven quick and easy ideas to prepare your pizzeria for spring

h, finally, springtime! Now that it’s getting a little warmer, it’s time to think about freshening your space and some quick tricks to attract customers. Spring is a time of renewal and the perfect time to clean things up and get your pizzeria back on the map. It is also the ideal time for pizzeria owners to look at their operations from a whole new perspective and think about new ideas for attracting new customers. Here are seven quick and easy ideas to prepare your pizzeria for spring.

1. Cleaning comes first A clean and sanitized pizzeria is a top priority for diners. Spring is when you should make your pizzeria more inviting, and attention to detail is key. You will improve the customer experience by ensuring your staff members maintain the cleanliness of your pizzeria. Floors, carpets, counters, wall units and restrooms must be scrubbed and sanitized. 2. Freshen up your décor It’s also important to freshen up your décor. Put some extra work into making your pizzeria more inviting. How about adding some colourful flowers and foliage to your counters and tables and around your entire space? Put up bright and welcoming artwork. Look at your table and seating layout and check your lighting. Remember that your outdoor space and décor should feel like a continuation of your indoor space using the same colour scheme and theme. 18

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Consider hosting a charity event or a fundraiser. You will definitely attract locals with the promise of supporting a good cause.

3. Update your menu with some spring green offerings Spring is a time of renewal. Updating your menu is a must for your spring preparation. Your customers will soon be looking for lighter and healthier options. Spring is the season of fresh produce, so it’s time to consider serving less comfort food and adding more fresh salads. Freshen up your menu with unique offerings, including lighter meals like summer salads. Spring is also the perfect time to finish your pizzas with greens like spinach, arugula, radicchio, watercress, sprouts and cilantro. In the spring, you can prepare many colourful creations with leafy greens, asparagus, leeks, walnut pesto and delicious, colourful fruit such as pineapple. How about an upside-down pineapple pizza? Spring also brings an excellent opportunity for your pizzeria to partner with local farms and suppliers to incorporate their products into your menu. Whenever possible, try to use farm-to-table ingredients to give your recipes an artisanal, homemade quality. For example, source some crispy lettuce and mix in arugula or cilantro for a bit of kick. 4. Bring on the brunch Have you tried branching out your spring menu by adding a brunch? Brunch works well as people are more inclined to enjoy lazy mornings in bed, followed by a good brunch at their local

restaurant. Brunch is an excellent way to attract new customers who may not have heard of your pizzeria. Since brunch menus are not easily found in most pizza places, you will surely stand apart from the crowd. Finally, adding brunch could make you a bunch of money. Spring is the season of fresh produce, so take full advantage of the fresh spring veggies to create new pizzas. Inexpensive breakfast foods such as eggs, potatoes and toast have a lot of potential for a high profit margin. You could make it easier on yourself by pre-making large amounts of easy breakfast foods like scrambled eggs, bacon, and mini pizza pies. Then, plan a nice, colourful, healthy brunch or brunch buffet and advertise it through your website and social media platforms. People love going out for brunch on a beautiful spring weekend, and it is easier to do than you may realize.

5. Be ready for holidays Spring is full of fun and exciting holidays that give you many ways to run promotions to attract customers and increase your revenue. So don’t forget to celebrate spring holidays, including Easter (Good Friday and Easter Monday), April Foods Day (yes, you may use it for restaurant promotions), Mother’s Day and Victoria Day. Build some egg-citement around Easter, and don’t forget that Mother’s Day is perhaps the most important spring holiday. Consider hosting a charity event or a fundraiser. You will definitely attract locals with the promise of supporting a good cause. Think about setting up a April 2023 · CANADIAN PIZZA

private lunch party for your loyal customers. Use your windows and easel signage to help you attract customers to your special spring event.

Try creating a signature spring-inspired non-alcohol cocktail.

6. Spruce up your patio dining and outdoor areas If you offer patio dining, consider everything you can do to make the outdoor seating as enjoyable as possible. Dust off your outdoor area, including the tables and chairs. Consider replacing these worn-out cushions and putting a new stain on your wooden tables. Time to replace these old umbrellas or torches, fix any unstable tables, and bring anything else back to

life! Include not only some great entertainment but also heaters, floral displays, great outdoor lighting using light strings, LED wall washes, and some other cool installations to brighten up your patio and make it more visible to passersby. By building something inviting and colourful that customers can see from the outside of your pizzeria, you are advertising the spring celebration that can be found within. How about always having fresh ingredients on hand by adding a small garden on your patio? It would be visually appealing and allow you to serve food from garden to table.

7. Post on social media Celebrate springtime on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Aside from sharing high-quality photos of your delicious spring-prepared dishes, it is a great idea to share behindthe-scenes photos and videos of what goes on in the kitchen, inside your pizzeria and on your patio. Make sure your kitchen is spotless and showcase your new preparations. Then, show off your new spring dishes, events, and more through interactive landing pages on your customer’s mobile devices. Finally, use hashtags to promote your new menu items featuring seasonal and locally grown ingredients. | CP

Contact your Reuven sales rep for a sample.

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COVER STORY

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For many restaurants, reducing hours of operation, as unpalatable as it may be, represents one area of the business that they can control and maintain costs. But there are other perspectives. Like other restaurants, Two Guy and a Pizza Place in Lethbridge, Alta., reduced their operating hours during the pandemic and have maintained them since. “We made the decision to close Mondays. We took advantage of the day off to clean the ovens, paint, do deep cleaning, and so on,” owner Cory Medd explains. “Time went on and we noticed the late-night business slowing down, so we adjusted our closing hours as well, closing two to three hours earlier each day.” What they noted was that business on other days, notably Sundays and Tuesdays, picked up. “Perhaps customers became accustomed to our new hours because sales barely changed, but profits increased with the decrease in labour and expenses,” Medd says. “We have stuck with these hours for now.” Medd notes that there is a temptation to remain open later as life returns to a sense of pre-COVID normalcy. For now, however, he is resisting the urge.

For many restaurants, reducing hours of operation represents one area of the business that they can control and maintain costs. 20

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Scaled-down menus have become necessary to streamline service due to lack of staff and reduce inventory costs, according to Goodfellas Wood Fired Pizza in Toronto.

He doesn’t foresee a time when the restaurant will re-open on Mondays. “The accidental benefit of being closed Mondays is that I am not required to pay staff on any stat holiday that falls on that day, so that is helpful with the overall payroll burden,” he says. “And I get way more office work done that day, so I guess reducing our hours of operation has had some benefits.” For now, as the labour shortage ripples through the economy, and with the hospitality industry workforce an estimated 15 per cent lower than pre-COVID levels, curtailed operations remain a necessity for many pizzerias across Canada. | CP

of restaurants report having to increase hours worked by owners and managers to compensate for the lack of staff – Restaurants Canada Foodservice Facts Guide

Andrew Hind is a freelance writer from Bradford, Ont., specializing in food, history and travel. He is the author of 25 books and the proud father of one. April 2023 · CANADIAN PIZZA

PHOTO: DEMKAT/ GETTY

only solution. It’s a real problem.” Mollica’s experience is industry wide. According to the Foodservice Facts Guide 72 per cent of restaurants report having to increase hours worked by owners and managers to compensate for the lack of staff. In many cases, cutting back hours has also been done to control costs. According to Goodfellas Wood Fired Pizza in Toronto, the lack of labour supply inevitably drives up hourly costs for new hires. For many restaurants it became a cycle of not enough staff and the cost of potential new hires being prohibitive. Representatives of Goodfellas point out several other ways the labour shortage impacts business decisions for restaurants, many of them unseen by the customers they serve: • Turnover of staff increases costs of training to maintain customer-service standards. • A scaled-down menu with less diversity is necessary to streamline service due to lack of staff and reduce inventory costs. • It has impacted the ability to forecast growth plans in the short term. • It has impacted the ability to forecast advertising campaigns in the short term.

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PIZZA EXPO HIGHLIGHTS

Attendees got tips on New York style pizza and competing with the big guys on quality

he International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas delivered a high standard of exciting education sessions, competitions, demonstrations and products to pizzeria operators. In “Escape to New York” industry legends Tony Gemignani, owner of Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, John Arena, owner of Metro Pizza, and special guest Lee Hunzinger, consultant with PizzaLee33, shared with a packed audience some of their tips for making topnotch New York style pizza. Arena is known for his Sicilian style pie. “You have to change with the industry and the customers,” he told operators. After a five-day fermentation, Arena freezes the crust overnight to reduce moisture. “I’m always trying for an element of surprise to the customer,” he said, displaying his crust which he says “looks like a brick” but tastes great and delivers a pleasing texture and taste that appeals to all five senses. Metro’s sauce is made up of three different tomatoes. They use sharp Fontina cheese, pepperoni 22

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and rosemary for fragrance. Parbaking is a good way to stop the dough at the point when it’s at its best and you want it to stop. Flash-freezing works fine and lasts about one month, he said. Gemignani demonstrated stretching techniques to make a 16-inch pizza. For one technique, you press out the air, then press the edges, banging down that edge,” he said, adding that he likes to use vodka in the sauce, cooked off, and extra virgin olive oil. He favours an electric oven with a 5/2 ratio: the top deck at 50 per cent heat and the bottom deck at 20 per cent. “You need to have a good recognition of your recovery time,” he advised. The element on top will help keep recovery time.

John Arena, Lee Hunzinger, Chris Decker and Tony Gemignani prepare to describe and demonstrate the finer points of making New York style pizza at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.

In “Competing with Quality,” Scott Anthony, owner-operator of Punxsutawney Pizza in Pennsylvania, shared some of his key ways of keeping his business ahead of the curve. Anthony invited comments from the attending operators. Tony Troiano, president of J.B.Alberto’s Pizza in Chicago, said he sends his regular customers a postcard twice a year: once in July and again on Black Friday to beat the Christmas deluge of mail and messages. “The goal is to be top of mind,” Troiano said. “Your delivery area is your neighbourhood,” he said, adding that if operators are mailing out personalized postcards they are already ahead of the game because these are not addressed simply to “resident.” Personalization is something chains can’t easily do, he noted. Anthony said he always wants to set himself apart from a dozen other pizzerias in his region. He said “The birthday pizza is a pleasant surprise for your customer.” Anthony ended by showing one pizzeria’s clever campaign to promote what independent pizzerias have to offer above frozen pizza products. In the video the customer brings his frozen pizza to the independent asking if they’ll help him cook it. The pizzeria employee delivers top-notch customer service, upselling some toppings and leaving the customer very happy. Anthony said, “People will never forget how you made them feel.” | CP April 2023 · CANADIAN PIZZA

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